Appealing to an Audience

Thus far, the magazines I have studied suggest an effort to appeal to a sophisticated, mature audience that are predominantly female sharing a relatively mass viewpoint/following the hegemonic norm which would appear to be one of luxury and class. I think I can appeal to an audience like this by using high quality, well lit studio images and including a range of interesting intellectual articles. This will also help to ensure I get the preferred reading for my publication.

My audience will be my main concern when making stylistic choices for my magazine such as the colour scheme, which to convey the luxury and sophisticated feel I want for my magazine will need to feature colours associated with it, perhaps gold, white, grey and red. These colours have been used in the existing media I have studied.

As well as the colour scheme of my publication there are other factors to be considered that are of equal importance. Alignment of text should be horizontal and linear to reflect the hegemonic norms of magazine layout. Such layouts enable audiences to easily identify and access information and fulfills their cognitive needs whilst being in a format they will respond to. Listing or sub-headings hinting at the contents of the magazine helps to create enigmas from the quotes and phrases whilst also helping to fulfill cognitive needs. All of which helps to reinforce the audiences reasons for buying the magazines.

I will also need to consider the use of hermeneutic codes. Existing media uses these frequently in attempts to draw in the audience. Article headings and banners are just a couple of the methods used. Typically these are found on the front covers of a magazine but can be carried through onto the contents page to keep the audiences interest and fulfill their needs.

The way I shoot my images will also be important to attract the attention of my audience, I will make use of close-ups, mid-shots and even some long-shots to do this. A long-shot would be beneficial in a lifestyle article as I could show off furnishings and surroundings while establishing a relationship with the audience who would feel a part of the image and fulfill uses & grats. A mid-shot would work when shooting fashion images as they would show off the clothing and I would be able to establish a relationship between the audience and the model by having my model in direct address with the audience. Close-ups would also work for fashion shots or anything else requiring a relationship between image and audience.